Multi-Object Spectroscopy

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The multi-object mode of GMOS offers the possibility of obtaining spectra of several hundred objects simultaneously. The GMOS MOS design is based upon precisely fabricating and locating a plate containing many small slits within the spectrograph's entrance aperture. With a 5.5 square arcmin field of view, 30-60 slits can typically be located in a single mask, with a maximum of several hundred slits when narrow-band filters are used. A total of 9 MOS masks (plus the IFU) can be loaded into GMOS at any given time (maximum of 18 MOS masks in very exceptional cases, requiring to remove longlist masks). Actual mask production is done with a laser milling machine located in La Serena. Currently this laser milling machine produces masks for both GMOSs at Gemini North and Gemini South.

The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.

The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in five participant countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, Tecnologia e Inovação and the Korea Astronomy and Space Institute (KASI). The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.